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 ith
the June 1 suicide bombing in Tel-Aviv, and the recent bombings
in Jerusalem and Haifa, all of Israel's major populations centers
have been subject to terrorist attacks. These acts are portrayed
as springing from the rage of the Palestinian people. But, whatever
the motives of the individual terrorist, terrorism is not a random
act. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PLO are sophisticated organizations
with well-defined ideologies and goals.
Terrorism is
a cynical, calculated strategy that aims at undermining a society's
will to defend itself by creating chaos and engendering a feeling
of helplessness. It is the ultimate expression of the ends justifying
the means. One of terrorism's immediate goals is to goad the recipient
into retaliating. Israeli retaliations further radicalize the Palestinian
population, eliminating moderate voices and allowing the Intifada
to continue. At the same time, the failure of Israeli measures to
stop terrorism pushes Israelis towards despair.
Terrorism is
not confined to Islamic Jihad and Hamas. While presenting itself
as the alternative to Muslim fundamentalism, the PLO failed to shut
down Islamic Jihad and Hamas. With tens of thousands of men in the
Palestinian security services, this failure was not due to lack
of means, it was due to the PLO's collusion with them. The PLO has,
under pressure and to a limited extent, cooperated with Israeli
security to prevent attacks. After the major suicide bombings Arafat
issued mild condemnations of all killing of civilians. But, Arafat
has personally praised suicide bombers. According to the Middle
East Media Research Institute, a Washington-based think tank
that monitors the media of the Middle East and documents Palestinian
incitement and anti-Semitism, Arafat regularly sends his condolences
to the families of suicide bombers. The family of the Tel Aviv suicide
bomber who murdered 21 Israeli teenagers received a letter from
Arafat in which the bomber was praised as, "…the model
of manhood and sacrifice for the sake of Allah and the homeland…"
In delegating
suicide bombings to Islamic Jihad and Hamas, Arafat created ambiguity
about his personal responsibility for terrorist attacks. But his
governance of the Palestinian Authority built a terrorist society.
While administered by Israel, the West Bank and Gaza had been —
by the admittedly low standards of the Arab world — reasonably
prosperous and free. The PLO destroyed these modest liberties to
create a fertile ground for terrorists. Newspapers submitted to
Arafat's control or were closed. The growing Palestinian civil society
was curtailed. Arafat destroyed the economy through massive corruption,
monopolistic practices, and by allowing a lawless commercial environment.
But most importantly, Arafat instituted a culture of death and violence.
He orchestrated the media and fabricated school curriculums and
summer camps that grimly urged Palestinians, particularly children,
to commit martyrdom for the sake of Palestine. For example, a recent
sermon given in Gaza and broadcast on Palestinian Authority TV,
exhorted, "Blessings for whoever assaulted a soldier... Blessings
for whoever has raised his sons on the education of Jihad and Martyrdom;
blessings for whoever has saved a bullet in order to stick it in
a Jew's head."
The terror
has not broken Israel. The Israeli public is united behind Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, whose approval ratings have gone up since
his landslide election victory. Israeli defensive measures have
been effective, preventing innumerable attacks and using precision
strikes to retaliate. Israeli tactics have minimized non-combatant
Palestinian deaths.
Israel's strategy
has been to retaliate against Palestinian attacks, hoping that these
measures will drive the Palestinians back to negotiations. But,
the fallout of Israel's response to the Jerusalem bombing has only
played into Arafat's hands. By seizing Orient House in Jerusalem
— which was used, in contravention of the Oslo agreements, as an
official Palestinian office — Israel is castigated by the international
community for "escalating the conflict." Rather than deterring
the Palestinians from further violence, the seizure of Orient House
has become a new rallying point.
However a strictly
defensive strategy is also not feasible. Some terrorists will always
slip through, undermining Israeli resolve. While most Israelis support
stronger measures to counter Palestinian violence, the appeasers
in Israel's peace camp continue to call for Israeli restraint and
concessions. As the situation drags on Israelis will flee, literally
and figuratively, from the intractable reality. As they do so, calls
for appeasement will acquire a renewed prominence. But this, as
history shows, will reward terrorists and encourage further aggression.
The Palestinians
have insisted that terrorism will stop when Israel fulfills certain
conditions. But terrorism cannot be used as a bargaining chip and
is an unacceptable part of politics. It is, in the words of historian
Paul Johnson, "the antithesis of politics… [and] in rejecting
politics terrorism seeks to make civilization unworkable."
Israel must remember what it once knew with certainty, that any
compromise with terrorism threatens civilization itself.
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